If you have been waiting to see a breakthrough in some area of your life, it may be time to venture into spiritual fasting. Spiritual fasting has a lot of powerful benefits, and as Christians, we are entitled to live a breakthrough life!
We are not to sit around waiting for miracles to happen but to put on our whole armor of God and march into the enemy’s camp to bring back what he stole from us.
If you are struggling in any area of your life, be it as simple as not being able to feel closer to God or as big as waiting to receive breakthroughs in your relationships or healing from sickness, fasting, and prayer is the key!
You may have questions like
- What are the benefits of biblical fasting?
- What are the benefits of fasting for God?
- What are the physical and spiritual benefits of fasting?
Before we discuss the many powerful benefits of Spiritual fasting, let us first understand what happens when you fast spiritually?
What happens spiritually when you fast?
Fasting and prayer set the stage in the spiritual realm to receive your breakthrough. It prepares your spirit, soul, and body to fine-tune and tap into that area of your life that needs a breakthrough. It is that spiritual surgery room where spiritual operations take place.
If you have ever had surgery, you would know that you are usually told to fast before and during surgery so that the food does not interfere during the operation. In the same way, sometimes, you should consider going on a spiritual fast to prepare your spirit, soul, and body for spiritual warfare.
Because when you are prepared, tuned in, and ready spiritually, you open the doors to see the many powerful spiritual benefits of fasting and prayer.
Benefits of Spiritual fasting
There are so many powerful benefits of Spiritual fasting that it is hard to ignore! This explains why God emphasizes on fasting and praying regularly. God never tells us to do anything that would not benefit us. It is for our own spiritual, mental and physical benefit that we go on spiritual fast.
I’ve listed six most important and powerful benefits of Spiritual fasting below.
1. Spiritual Fasting Brings Us Closer to God
Spiritual fasting is powerfully beneficial because it enables us to Feel Closer to God and Takes us Away from the Flesh.
In this day and age, feeling closer to God seems to come in seasons. There are times when you feel so close to God, yet there are times when you feel distant from God no matter what you do.
For a Christian, feeling distant from God feels like a fish out of water struggling for oxygen. We need to walk in our fish tanks which is the Holy Spirit that provides oxygen to our spirit that connects us to God.
The many distractions of this world, the busy lifestyle of being modern, and sometimes our challenges – all of these, which I call walking in the flesh takes us away from the continuous presence of God.
It pulls us in so many directions that we drift away from our focus on God. That is when spiritual fasting comes into the picture! Spiritual fasting is powerful and beneficial because it helps us to deny our flesh and enables us to feel closer to God.
Galatians 5:16 (ESV) says, “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.”
Joel 2.12 (ESV) says, “Yet even now,” declares the LORD, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning.”
Fasting is one way of taking control and saying NO to our fleshly desires. When we fast and pray, we take the baton away from our flesh and hand it to the Holy Spirit to lead us into God’s presence.
2. Spiritual Fasting Enables us to Hear God Clearly
Spiritual Fasting is Powerfully Beneficial because it Enables us to Hear Clearly from God.
Are you waiting for wisdom and guidance from God? Do you want direction for your next step in life? Fasting and praying prepare you to tap into God’s presence and tune you into that same frequency where you can hear clearly from God.
Throughout the Bible, we see God’s people fasting and praying, then following the direction of God.
Acts 13:2 (ESV) says, “While they were worshiping the Lord and fasting, the Holy Spirit said, “Set apart for me Barnabas and Saul for the work to which I have called them.”
Exodus 34:38 (ESV) says, “So he(Moses) was there with the Lord forty days and forty nights. He neither ate bread nor drank water. And he wrote on the tablets the words of the covenant, the Ten Commandments.”
There is something powerful about fasting and praying that unlocks God’s wisdom, guidance, and direction. If you are desperately waiting for direction from God or do not have clarity of your next steps in life, then Spiritual fasting could help you out.
3. Spiritual Fasting Helps Us Endure Temptation
Spiritual Fasting is powerfully beneficial because it helps us endure temptation
James 1:12 (NKJV) says, “Blessed is the man who endures temptation; for when he has been approved, he will receive the crown of life which the Lord has promised to those who love Him.”
God desires that we endure temptation because we receive the crown of life when we can do that. Therefore, as His children, we should do everything possible to endure temptation.
It is easier said than done! We all have sinned and have fallen short of the glory of God. However, we are all a product in the making; although we fail sometimes, we should not give in!
Spiritual fasting is so beneficial and powerful because it helps us endure temptation. We can learn that from Jesus Himself! In Matthew 4:1-11, we see how Jesus fasted for 40 days and how that fasting enabled Him to resist satan and endure temptation so brilliantly!
Matthew 26:41 (NKJV) says, “Watch and pray, lest you enter into temptation. The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”
We are to watch and pray, so we do not fall into temptation. Because many times, our spirit is strong, but our flesh is weak. Fasting is a way of disciplining our flesh(body and mind) that tends to overpower our spirit.
When we take control and discipline our bodies with food, we set the stage to discipline other fleshly areas of our life.
4. Spiritual Fasting Breaks Every Stronghold and Gives You Spiritual Freedom.
Spiritual fasting is powerfully beneficial because it breaks every stronghold, helps you take your spiritual authority and gives spiritual freedom.
If you are struggling to get over any sin, addiction, or sickness in your life, I highly recommend you consider fasting and prayer.
Certain sins or addictions are strongholds from the dark spiritual forces that trap you, so it becomes complicated to overcome them. Also, every sickness comes from hell; it is never God’s will for anyone to be sick. The lies of the enemy keep you oppressed and depressed.
During those times, it is crucial to put on your full armor of God, take on your spiritual authority as His royal child, and show satan where he belongs. No matter what satan does, he cannot overpower you! He can only scare you and roar at you but is powerless when you take your God-given authority in the name of Jesus.
Isaiah 58:6 says, “Is this not the fast that I have chosen: to lose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the heavy burdens, to let the oppressed go free, and that you break every yoke?”
The whole chapter of Isaiah 58 from the Bible talks about “a fasting that pleases God.” God tells us that fasting is a great way to break every stronghold and receive spiritual freedom. Therefore, God honors fasting, and as His children fasting should be part of our Christian journey.
- If you have noticed a pattern in your life that does not line up with the Word of God
- or everything you do somehow falls apart
- or whatever you does not seem fruitful
- or sickness looks too big to heal
Then the spiritual forces are doing everything possible to keep you from the life God has planned for you.
It’s time to step forward and get your hands dirty doing spiritual warfare through fasting and prayer. The Lord’s will is to break every yoke in your life, trying to keep you in spiritual bondage. So, put on the whole armor of God and get started to bring back your inheritance.
5. Spiritual Fasting Gives You The Breakthrough You’ve Been Awaiting.
Spiritual fasting is powerfully beneficial because it opens the door for your breakthrough and your miracle.
Have you been waiting long to receive your breakthrough? Does a miracle seem too far away? Be it your next promotion or breakthrough in your relationships, or breakthrough in your business, fasting and prayer can open the door for your miracle.
When you fast, there is a shift in the spiritual realm, which un-ties the interference from the enemy and re-aligns your life in Christ.
There are many instances in the Bible where God’s people went on a spiritual fast and received their miracles. Be it Daniel (Daniel 9:1–23), the people of Nineveh (Jonah 3:5-10), or Esther (book of Esther), they are excellent examples from whom we can learn.
God says in the Bible that when you do a fast that pleases Him (Isaiah 58), He will hear you when you call unto Him and answer your prayer.
Isaiah 58:9 (NKJV) – “Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and He will say, ‘Here I am.’
Don’t wait for things to unfold in their own sweet time, but equip yourself with the Word, take your stance through fasting and prayer, and get that miracle you have been waiting for!
6. Spiritual Fasting Benefits Physical Health.
Looking around the way God created the world, everything is so well organized, in order, and valuable. Everything that is ever good for us is commanded by the Lord in the Bible. Time and time again, God tells his people to fast and pray because He knows the health benefits of fasting and prayer.
It is incredibly healthy to fast! With the increased knowledge in science, we know that fasting enhances brain function and increases metabolism, which is vital for maintaining the overall health and energy of the body. In addition, fasting detoxes the body, improves our immune system, and aids in anti-aging.
Daniel 1:15 says, “At the end of ten days it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.”
Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego refused to eat what king Nebuchadnezzar had to offer and instead went on an intermittent fast with vegetables and water. As a result, their skin glowed, they looked better than everyone else and they had more knowledge. In Daniel 5:12, we also see that Daniel had a sharp mind and could solve problems, explain riddles and interpret dreams.
Fasting and praying indeed have a lot of health benefits! However, it is essential to consult your healthcare practitioner before you go on a fast to know if you have any health conditions which may not permit you to fast.
There have been many instances in my life where I have done 3 days, 7 days, 21 days, and even 40 days fast; for direction, understanding, clarity, healing, deliverance, and to feel closer to God.
I can say with experience that none of my fasting and prayer has ever gone in vain. On the contrary, I have received many breakthroughs in my life and miracles through fasting and prayer. There are many types of Spiritual fasting and if you want to venture into it, you should understand which kind of fasting suits you.
If you fast with a sincere heart to only let the Lord’s will in your life, then God will always honor it! However, spiritual fasting is not a way to bend God’s hand to say you are depriving yourself of food for God. Therefore, having the right attitude when you do a Spiritual fast is imperative. And to do that, you should know the things you need to avoid when fasting and praying
God desires to give us great gifts beyond our imagination. He does not want us to live in pain, sickness, away from His presence, or with no clarity and direction in life. He is a loving Father who wants us to experience all the benefits of Spiritual fasting.
Sometimes it is so important to put aside the things of this world, including food for the physical body, and to focus only on God and the things of Heaven. After all, we live in this world but are NOT of this world! When we connect with God more often, we feel like the fish in the sea happy, content, truly living the life we are called for, and in the right atmosphere we need to live in…. HIS PRESENCE!
Did you find this helpful? What benefits of Spiritual fasting have you experienced in life? Share in the comments below.
